


Mistress of What?

by AudeliaMarlowe



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Time Babies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-11-23 04:59:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11395827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudeliaMarlowe/pseuds/AudeliaMarlowe
Summary: What if Missy didn't die? Surprise! She's saved by her own daughter, and they set off on their own adventure. Who's the father? Where will they end up? Let's find out.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the joke "alternate ending" given by Moffat on the youtube fan show. (I'll let you know which chapters have smut so you can avoid them if you need to.)

All Missy knows is pain, then suddenly the glow of regeneration energy and screaming. Missy realizes that she is not the one screaming. It’s coming from a naked woman kicking her in the ribs. “Get up. Get the fuck up.”  
“Go away, I’m busy being dead,” Missy groans, her eyes still only half open.  
“You’re not dead.”  
“I’ve regenerated?”  
More exasperated screaming. “Obviously not. Look, if you’re not going to get up…” She starts ripping Missy’s boots off her feet.  
“Hey! Watch it,” Missy yells, swatting the woman away and finally sitting up.  
“How about a thank you?”  
“Why would I thank you? And, not that I really care, but where are your clothes?”  
“Well I didn’t exactly come with any. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to share, seeing as how you’re wearing enough layers for the both of us?”  
Missy takes off her coat and hands it to the woman, but a faint glow catches her eye. The rest of her clothes are ripped, and she can see her flesh mending itself near her stomach. “What?…”  
“Again, how about a ‘thank you for saving me, darling daughter,’ or an ‘I’m sorry you had to waste a regeneration before you were actually born, terribly sorry I got myself shot with a laser.’“  
Missy laughs. “You’re not my daughter.”  
“Yes, I am.”  
The glowing energy fades away. Missy blinks, rubs her head, and stands up. The woman hands the boot back to her and claps her hands. “Alright, let’s get out of here. Escape pods? Do you know where they are, or should we start at the top of the ship and work our way down?” She walks off, finds a lift call button and punches it as Missy hops after her putting the boot back on her foot.  
“I was pregnant?” Missy shrieks.  
“Obviously. I got most of the blast. You’re welcome.”  
“Who’s your father?”  
The woman laughs wildly as Missy stands staring at her. “I’m sorry, the phrasing of that question…” The lift doors open with a ding, and the woman steps inside. “Are you joining me, or not?”

She decides to play along, and follows the woman. The lift doors close again, and the woman selects the highest floor. Missy can’t help but stare at her. She’s beautiful, in her own way. She’s small, with pale skin and long dark hair, a sharp jawline and piercing green eyes. Does she look like me, Missy wonders, before realizing that it doesn’t work like that for Time Lords. It doesn’t work like this at all.  
“How can you be my daughter?” she says, softly this time. “That’s not how Time Lords reproduce. There’s a whole thing with a curse, and…” she trails off. The woman finally looks at her again.  
“Well, I’m not saying that you’re lying, but,” she gestures, indicating that she is here and very much alive.  
They’ve reached the top floor now, and Missy has to run to follow her. They don’t find any escape pods yet, but the woman doesn’t give up. It takes them seven floors before they find the bank of smaller spacecraft.  
“Give me your umbrella,” says the woman. Missy realises she’s leaning on it for support, but hands it over anyway. She forces an escape pod open, and again Missy follows her.  
“Well, what’s your plan, daughter?”  
“I was thinking we’d head for Gallifrey. Grab a TARDIS or two, then be on our merry way.”  
Missy snorts. “What do you know about Gallifrey? It’s hidden. Can’t go there.”  
“I stole most of your memories while you were passed out.” She taps herself on the head as she revs the engines. “Telepathy! So don’t think you can put anything past me. I know there’s at least eight or nine Gallifreys by now. I’m sure we can get to one of them.”  
Missy shakes her head. “Did you forget about the black hole?”  
“What?”  
“Magic space hole. Right over there. Gonna suck us in.”  
“I KNOW what a black hole is.”  
“Then you know this is hopeless.”  
“It’s like 300 miles away. We’re fine.”  
“You’re insane.”  
The woman laughs. “What’s the saying? The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree? Hang on.” With a sonic whine from the umbrella and a few terrifying clunks from the pod’s control panel, they’re up to lightspeed.

It’s a bumpy ride, even when Missy takes over the controls so the woman can rummage through the crates of emergency provisions.  
“Food packets, medical kit, ahhh, jackpot! There’s jumpsuits, if you’re not too committed to the aesthetic.”  
“What aesthetic?” replies Missy.  
“That aesthetic. Sexy murder granny, I guess.”  
Missy doesn’t have a reply, she just makes a disgusted-sounding noise.  
“Suit yourself,” says her daughter, throwing the coat back to Missy and zipping up something more practical.  
“I’m trying to drive, dear”  
“Just put it on autopilot.”  
“If I put it on autopilot, I’m programming it to drop us at the nearest inhabited planet.”  
The woman sits in the co-pilot seat and pulls a face. “No mother-daughter bonding?”  
“I’m actively trying to not process this.”  
“Do you want to talk about dad?”  
“Nope,” says Missy, changing a setting on the navigator as promised. “We’ll be there in two hours.”  
“Do you want to talk about anything, then?”  
“Be glad this thing doesn’t have an airlock I can throw you out of.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cute domestic vault flashback.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a couple flashback chapters before we find out what happens next with Missy and the woman.

Seventeen days earlier…

Missy woke up alone in her big comfy bed, in her big lonely vault. With the sheets and blankets pushed aside, she felt the full chill of the air, cut with with entirely inadequate artificial sunlight. Missy couldn’t remember falling asleep. She forced herself to sit up. Sleep was a good way to pass the time, but she couldn’t let her mind start to slip away. Perhaps today she’d get a start on that 3D printer. Disassemble one of the heaters, maybe the coffeepot. She never used it anyway.  
“Ah, you’re up! Coffee?” There he was. Her Doctor, with his wild grin and even wilder hair, holding a mug and a huge canister of sugar.  
Missy pursed her lips. “You know better than to test me before I’ve even got out of bed. Put the kettle on and make some fucking tea. And give me back that bathrobe.”  
“I like this bathrobe. It looks better on me.”  
“It’s bright purple. It’s a woman’s bathrobe.”  
“Maybe I’m a woman today,” he shrugged.  
She looked him up and down, as she finally got out of bed. “You’re not.” Missy tiptoed across the cold floor to the kitchenette and clicked the kettle on herself.  
The Doctor followed, opening a cabinet to put away the sugar. Missy reached up to grab it, brushing his arm.  
“No, leave it out.”  
“You never take sugar in your tea,” he said, sitting at the small table.  
“Just a craving. Change is good, right?” She smiled, then leaned down for a quick kiss. He tasted sweet. She gave him just a little bite on his bottom lip, just for consistency’s sake, and she felt him smile too.  
The kettle clicked off and she made her own tea. They sat together, and she was happy. Genuinely happy.  
“Change is good,” the Doctor said, suddenly.  
“Something tells me you’re not still going on about hot drinks,” she replied.  
“Can’t we be serious, Missy?”  
“I doubt it. If we’re serious I’ll start to cry again, and I’ll feel weak for crying, and you’ll try to comfort me, and then I’ll feel weaker for needing to be comforted, and then I’ll say something rude about something that happened 1300 years ago, and then you’ll get mad but pretend you’re not, and then you’ll pop away in your TARDIS for three weeks.”  
He laughed, but not unkindly. “Always cynical.”  
“We’ve had the conversation before, I’m just streamlining things.”  
“So… are you ready for me to ‘pop away,’ then?”  
“No. I like having you here. Just don’t make it more than it is.”  
“And what is it, Missy?” he asked, eyebrows raised.  
“A casual shag once a fortnight, an extra pair of hands to play certain songs, someone to beat in chess and/or sepulchasm on a semi-regular basis. I think humans consider it friendship.”  
“It’s more than that, and you know it.”  
“Fine, if you say so.”  
They sat quietly for a little while, just enjoying the company.  
The Doctor cleared his throat, “But anyway, as I was saying,”  
She groaned.  
“No, no, this will just take a minute and it’s nothing bad! It’s good! You’ll like it!”  
“Continue, then,” Missy said, waving her hand.  
“How would you…” the Doctor paused for dramatic effect, as he tended to do. “...Like to go somewhere? In my TARDIS?” He looked so adorably excited that Missy almost felt bad for laughing.  
“Oh Doctor! You mysterious and amazing traveller… please, open up my mind to the wonders of time and space and take me on adventures far beyond my comprehension. Please, mansplain the basics of transdimensional engineering as I stare wide-eyed at the beauty of the scorpion nebula.” She pulled a sarcastic face.  
“Mansplain?”  
“Ask one of your humans. And while you’re at it, ask one of them to go on holiday with you. I’m trying to be good. I’m not supposed to leave the vault, and you know it.”  
“I owe you for Mars.”  
“Yes, you do, dear, and I like it that way.”  
“Just let me take you somewhere. Please,” he said, almost whining.  
Missy threw her hands up in the air. “What do you want me to say?” She stood up and put the empty mugs in the sink.  
He stood up, too, grabbing her by the waist. “Say yes. Break the rules. Leave the vault with me. It’ll be like… like a test. To see what you can do outside these walls.”  
She held him closer and gazed into his eyes. “Thete, you renegade. As much as you talk about me changing, you haven’t changed a bit,” she said, laughing again like all those centuries had never passed.  
“You still haven’t said yes.”  
“Yes, then. Yes, let’s have a good old-fashioned adventure.”  
He kissed her, then, deeper this time.

She took his hands and led him back to the big comfy bed. “Now, will you take off that stupid bathrobe?”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter (the second of the two flashbacks) is skippable if you're not into graphic Missy/Master smut. All you need to know for the rest of the fic is basically that they had sex.
> 
> The limitation limiter comes from Big Finish's "The Trouble With Drax".

Some time later, on floor 507...

Always carry a spare dematerialisation circuit. And a Blinovitch limitation effect limiter. Thanks, Drax, she thought.  
And thanks, Doctor, for getting us into this mess… she should have remembered what his “old-fashioned adventures” were really like. It wasn’t all bad, though. Look at him. Her? The previous her, who was a him. He (they? she?) looked good.  
“You’re staring, Missy,” said the Master.  
“I am.”  
“You like what you see.” It wasn’t a question. He knew his own mind.  
“I really did forget about the beard. It suits you.”  
“How much do you remember?”  
“Not much at all. I’m not lying. There’s no point in lying to you. Me.”  
“Right. Wonder what happened,” he said, blandly.  
“Come over here. Sit right next to me.”  
“What are you doing?” He sat on the bed and turned toward his future self.  
“You’d look good with some mascara,” she said, holding up the wand and grabbing his face.  
“Alright, why not?” He did, it turned out, he looked very nice with the mascara. “How much more makeup do you have in those pockets? This is what I have to look forward to carrying around,” he said, with a mock pout.  
“It’s not easy being this beautiful.”  
“Now I know you’re lying.” He winked.  
“Mmhmm.” She realized she was still running her fingers across his face, and let her hand slip away.  
“What about lip gloss?”  
“You still want me to kiss you.” She leaned in, taking a risk.  
“More than that, female me.” He rested his forehead on hers and she saw a flash of his thoughts.   
Missy actually blushed. “It really is wrong.”  
“Since when do we care about right and wrong? Since when do we blush at this kind of thing?” he whispered.  
“It’s not that… I don’t know, I…” She wanted him. She wanted herself, but she felt guilty. Missy felt guilty that she wanted someone who wasn’t the Doctor, and she hated it. She suddenly got another flash of images in her mind but realised it was coming from herself.  
“Missy.”  
“What?”  
“That was a memory, darling.”  
“I’m trying to ignore it.”  
“If you remember that, then, well, timelines…” He brushed his fingertips gently against her neck.  
She didn’t flinch away. It didn’t feel as wrong as she expected. It was very natural, actually, to please yourself. “Yes, the timelines.”  
“It must be a fixed point, then. Fucking myself. Yourself. One must go fuck oneself, or else time will collapse.”  
“Almost certainly. Yes.” She realised her arms were wrapped around her past body’s shoulders. She realised that her current body ached with need and in an instant her lips were on his. It wasn’t a decision so much as an inevitable event, something happening to Missy. It felt like an out of body experience, and in a way it was.  
Despite the limiter device, there was a definite tingle on her lips. Time was annoyed and disappointed at them, but not angry. His tongue was in her mouth. Her tongue. His mouth. Their lips. She moved backward on the bed and pulled him on top of her. He didn’t argue. She could feel how much he wanted her. There was a lot of clothing in the way. For a while, they left it like that, just a simple makeout session like they were students at the Academy.  
“Go slowly and enjoy yourself. Don’t rip anything off,” she said.  
“Of course not,” he replied, pulling off most of his own clothes, leaving black boxers. “But I want you out of the corset. Let me see what I have to look forward to.”  
“Hold on, you’re not there yet,” she told him.  
Skirt, petticoat, blouse, off. Lots of mystifying little bits of fabric. He unclipped her stockings from the suspender belt and rolled them down over her toned thighs. She helped a bit with the corset.  
“You’ll have to learn this.”  
“You’re so sexy.”  
“I am, aren’t I.”  
The last layers were gone, and there they were before each other. She remembered that body! How strange and wonderful to see it again.  
The Master obviously liked what he saw, his own glimpse of what was waiting in the future. He pawed at her breasts while he nibbled at her neck, just under her left ear. “This is so nice. I can’t wait. You’ve probably got the best sex life.”  
“Not so much, these days,” she sighed, “But the weeks right after the regeneration, those were memorable.”  
He moaned and moved lower, still seemingly fascinated by her breasts. He bit a nipple, but not too hard. “You’re fucking him though, aren’t you?”  
“Aren’t we always?”  
“True. Theta Sigma, our sex life’s background noise. He knows us too well.”  
“It’s honestly even nicer when you’ve got a pussy, just wait.”  
“Oh yes, that,” he said, reaching down between her legs. “It’s perfect.”  
He ran his fingers up and down over her clit, then inside her, feeling how wet she was.  
“You want me,” he said, with a playful frown.  
“Do I have to admit it?” she replied.  
“Yes, I want you to say it.”  
“Do I really…?”  
“Say it.”  
Missy sighed. “Master, I want you to fuck me.”  
“Can you be more specific?”  
“This is ridiculous.”  
“I’m three fingers deep in my own future pussy, just say it.”  
“Please... shove your cock into me. Now,” she said.  
“You’ve sure changed your mind,” he said, taking his fingers out.  
“Don’t be a bitch.”  
“Yes, Mistress,” he hissed, finally pushing into her with a groan.  
She bucked her hips up and they found a rhythm quickly. It wouldn’t last long, but Missy knew this wouldn’t be their only chance.  
They were both screaming, and laughing wildly, and she came once but wanted more. The waves of pleasure seemed to roll back and forth between the two minds and the two bodies. It was as if they were one person. They were one person. He moaned louder now and pounded faster and she felt his orgasm inside her… she couldn’t tell if it was hers as well. They slowed down, and he pulled his cock out, breathless.  
“Are you done?” he asked.  
“Fuck no,” she said.  
“That’s what I thought,” he said, kissing all the way down her body until he found himself between her legs. “I taste delicious.”  
She grabbed at his hair as he licked her clit with little circular motions. That’s… he’s spelling our name in circular Gallifreyan. Missy almost laughed but it came out as a moan instead. He went faster, knowing instinctively what she needed. Missy felt another wave of pleasure roll through her, and she let some of it roll over to her former self’s mind.  
The Master sat up, grinning wildly. They were both sweating and dizzy, but they still didn’t want it to end. He climbed back on top of her and kissed her roughly on the lips. Missy flipped him over so she was sitting on top, feeling that his cock was back up for more.  
She looked him in the eyes and without a word, bent down and took him in her mouth. It was only fair. Oh, she missed having this cock. Not that she minded the current body. It definitely had its advantages. But she remembered exactly what her previous body liked. What a rare opportunity to put that knowledge to use.  
By the sounds he was making, she’d remembered correctly. Now, one finger in his ass and… there, he shot another load down her throat. Not that bad, she thought as she sat up.  
“No more!” He told her, “I’m done.”  
“I win,” she said, kissing him on the nose.  
“You… you sure did,” he said, breathless. “But I didn’t lose.”  
“That was good.”  
“It was. Why don’t all the Time Lords try this?” the Master wondered.  
“Maybe they do and just don't say anything. Maybe they’re too boring. Maybe we’re just extra clever,” she replied.  
“We are. I love us.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back at the "present" time. Here comes the Class crossover...

Missy doesn’t realise she’s drifted off to sleep until she wakes up, with a start. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have any time to even wonder if it was all a dream. Her daughter, in the copilot seat, is laughing.  
“Welcome back. Have any interesting dreams?,” she says.  
Missy rubs her forehead. “Nothing I want you to know about.”  
“I already know a lot, remember.”  
“Right. Um, where are we, exactly?”  
“Not completely sure, but we’re only about 20 minutes out from our arrival. You were out for a long time.”  
“You’ve been flying this thing?”  
“It’s fine, it’s on autopilot!”  
Missy groans, pulling up the display screen that shows more technical details about the spacecraft’s mechanics. “It does look like we’re doing fine.   
“Lucky, right?”  
“You have no idea.”  
“You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you, mom?”  
Missy feels herself start crying again. She doesn’t feel sad, particularly, but she just can’t help it. She tries to wipe away the tears before the woman sees, but they just keep coming out. “Don’t call me that again. Please, never call me that.”  
“Why not?”  
“It just doesn’t seem right. Look, I had a daughter… more of a cousin, but I called her my daughter. We were so alike. She fell in with the CIA and there was a war… I don’t know what happened to her. I’m not even supposed to remember her.”  
“I’m sorry.” The woman pauses for a moment, looking more serious than she has before. “Has the Doctor had children?”  
“Yes and no. Nothing is straightforward when you’re a Gallifreyan. His family was more stable than mine, I think, but who knows where they all are now.”  
“I see. Well, if you don’t want to be a mom, should I just call you…”  
“Missy is fine.”  
“Okay.”  
They are silent for another minute or so, then Missy speaks. “What should I call you, then?”  
“I suppose I need a name, don’t I.”  
“A name, a title, anything.” Despite herself, Missy feels her hearts warming to the woman.  
“How about Phoenix?”  
“Phoenix…” Missy repeats.  
“There’s a very poetic story, about a bird born from--”  
“I know. MY memories, remember?”  
“What, you don’t like it?”  
“I suppose it’s as good as any, but it’s just so human. You’re going to be just as obsessed with Earth as the Doctor is, aren’t you?”  
“Maybe. I don’t know if I’ll be like him or not. Look, we’re coming out of lightspeed… must be time to get into orbit.”  
There’s a friendly chiming noise from the display, and the engines change on their own. The spacecraft is indeed going into orbit around the planet. Another chime sounds, and the display lights up with a message that the passengers should buckle into their seats and be ready to manually pilot the craft in the event of an emergency. Both women roll their eyes, but follow the instructions.  
Suddenly, the craft wobbles in its flight. Trusting herself more than the computers, Missy reaches down to take off autopilot after all. She’s interrupted by another shake. Phoenix grabs on to the second set of controls.  
“They won’t move!”  
“Hold on, I almost have it,” yells Missy.  
“Are we going to crash? We’re going to crash!”  
“Shut up!”  
By now the escape pod is rolling. Missy pushes with all the power she can manage, but she can’t get her controls to respond, either. She grits her teeth and tries to come up with a plan. Quickly.  
“Look out the window,” Phoenix screams. Instead of the planet underneath them, there appears to be another black hole. That’s new.  
“Where did that come from?”  
“You’re asking the person who’s been alive a grand total of 3 hours!?”  
“It was rhetorical!” Missy screams. She frantically pushes buttons, but nothing responds. Is this it, then? After everything, after every magical way she’s cheated death, is she destined to die by being sucked into a black hole?  
“WHY are you LAUGHING?” screams Phoenix. “Do something!”  
“I can’t. There’s nothing I can do!”  
And with that, they’re inside the black hole.  
Maybe it’s not a black hole, thinks Missy. Has she ever been in a black hole before? She can’t remember. She thought it’d be… blacker. This one looks like a store-brand version of the time vortex, all swirling colors and lights. Phoenix stops screaming, but then starts up again as they are finally surrounded by darkness.  
The tiny ship’s controls ding again, and Missy is surprised by how quiet it’s been. No klaxons or recorded messages shouting warnings. She looks at the display. The autopilot has clicked itself on again, and some kind of liquid is dripping out of the controls. It’s light outside again, and they’re headed quickly towards the ground.  
The ship doesn’t actually crash, but lands on its side with a deafening boom. Missy realises she’s stuck her arm out in front of Phoenix, as if to protect her from the impact. She unclips her restraints and slaps the woman on the face to wake her up.  
Phoenix starts screaming again. So, no one’s dead yet, thinks Missy. An excellent development.  
“Get out. Get out in case this thing explodes or something. And stop screaming.”  
They crawl out of the tiny spaceship and run a few meters, but it doesn’t seem to be in any real danger of exploding. They stop when they reach a chain link fence.  
“So, where are we?” Phoenix asks, brushing off her jumpsuit.  
Missy looks around and sniffs the air. “I don’t believe it.”  
“What?”  
“This must be… Earth. Of all the planets, in all the solar systems… And here come the humans.” She shouts the last part, and holds up her arms as if to surrender.   
Phoenix spins around and sees them. A group of four teenage humans, led by a slightly older blonde woman. The blonde is carrying a gun, and is heavily pregnant.  
“Who are you calling human?” she says. “I’m Quill.”


	5. Chapter 5

“I thought the Quill were gone. Along with the Rhodians,” says Missy calmly, stepping forward. Phoenix stands behind her and raises her own arms in the air.  
“Nope, and Charlie’s a Rhodian,” says Quill, gesturing to him. “We’re the last.”  
“Fascinating,” coos Missy. “And what about the rest of you?”  
“Humans, unfortunately, but I’ve got a really cool robot leg,” says the darker haired boy.  
“And his girlfriend’s a Shadow Kin. Long story,” adds the girl, before being swatted on the arm by the boy.  
“Well, that’s just wonderful. Hello, assorted sentients living on Earth. It is Earth, yes?” Missy continues as several of the teenagers nod. “We come in, uh, peace. As you can see our spacecraft has had a small malfunction. This is my daughter. Phoenix, come here. Everyone say hi to Phoenix. Will you please put the gun away, uh, Quill woman?”  
Quill actually holsters the gun as Phoenix steps towards the group.  
“I don’t get it,” Phoenix says. “How are we on Sol 3? We were nowhere near this solar system?”  
“Oh! Actually, I can explain that. But you should come in and sit down, shouldn’t they, Miss Quill?” April says, helpfully.  
“Right,” says Quill. “Come this way.”  
The whole group follows Quill as she buzzes them into the school and leads the way to the teacher’s lounge. The fluorescent lights flicker and turn on automatically.  
“It’s Christmas break, thank goodness,” Quill says. “Otherwise the whole school would have seen your little crash landing.”  
“Yes, thank goodness for that. We’d never want to cause a scene,” says Missy. Phoenix glares at her.  
They sit at a table, and Charlie makes tea. Tanya, Ram, and Matteusz introduce themselves, then Tanya explains the “bunghole of time” as best as she can.  
“At least, that’s what the Doctor said.”  
“Doctor?” shrieks Phoenix, and it’s Missy’s turn to glare at her daughter.  
“You know the Doctor?” says Quill.  
“We’re very old friends,” says Missy.  
“Nice to see that he always abandons his friends,” Quill says with a laugh.  
“Quill…” says Charlie.  
“What, you have to admit he’s fucked right off and left us on this planet. Who knows where he’s gone in that blue TARDIS thing.”  
“What year is this? What month?” Missy asks.  
“December, 2016,” says Matteusz.  
Missy starts laughing.  
“What? What’s so funny,” asks Ram.  
“He’s in Bristol! He’s teaching at a university!”  
Everyone stares at each other for a second.  
“You mean he’s right here?” Quill says, flatly.  
“This is London? It’s a bit of a drive, but yes,” Missy tells her.  
“That wanker.”  
“You’re telling me.”  
“So, wait a minute,” says Ram. “If he’s been here all along, why hasn’t he been helping us?”  
“Helping you with what?” asks Phoenix.  
Matteusz sighs. “It has been very strange few months.”  
“Give me a phone,” says Missy.

The Doctor is alone in his office, playing his guitar. The phone rings, and he pauses. Nardole has gone out to the store. Bill is out with friends. He sets the guitar down and answers the phone.  
“Hello?”  
“Hi, is Professor Theta Sigma available?”  
“Missy!? How did you get a phone?”  
“Oh, this is marvellous. I’d love to see the look on your face right now.”  
“How did you get a phone in the vault?”  
“I’m not in the vault, dear.”  
The Doctor is running through the halls, down the stairs, down to the vault. Missy’s voice is laughing over the phone. He flings the door open, and sees her there.  
The earlier Missy is lounging in a chair, reading a book. She raises her eyebrows.  
“Doctor? Is something wrong?”  
He looks in confusion at the phone, then at the earlier Missy sitting in front of him. “No. Nothing’s the matter. But I… I’ll talk to you later.” He slams the vault door and runs back to his office. “Missy. Missy on the phone Missy. What are you doing, and why are there two of you?”  
“You’re a Time Lord, can’t you figure it out?” Missy looks at Phoenix and gives her a thumbs up, as if this is going well.  
“You stole the TARDIS?”  
“No. Look, timelines being as they are, I can’t tell you the whole story, but aren’t you proud of me for calling you as soon as I could? Such a good girl, your Missy. Now you can come to London, pick me up, and set me back in my vault like nothing’s happened.”  
The Doctor is shaking. “I can’t put you back in the vault.”  
“Why not?”  
“Because there’s already one of you in the vault. Two Masters together, who knows what would happen.”  
“Quite. Oh well, I bet you can find somewhere else. A second vault. Vault 2.0. Just come pick me up. Me and a friend. We’re out here at Coal Hill, I’m sure you know the coordinates.”  
“What are you doing at Coal Hill School?”  
“Tsk tsk tsk. I can’t tell you. Timelines. See you in a bit. Bye!” she makes kissing noises into the phone and hangs up, then hands it back to Ram.  
“Well,” says Charlie. “What now?”  
“We go out front and wait for daddy to pick us up from school,” says Missy.  
Quill takes them down the hallway, and the TARDIS materialises in front of a bank of lockers. The Doctor pops out, obviously furious.  
“Just kind of trick do you think you’ve pulled!? Escaping and then returning before you’ve left. Think of the potential paradoxes. It’s incredibly irresponsible, Missy.”  
“One, I didn’t escape. Two, I didn’t choose to return, especially not here in particular.”  
The Doctor looks around at the squad of Coal Hill defenders, realising they are looking at him disapprovingly.   
“Did you come out to help them?”  
Quill laughs, “If only!”  
“No, they fell through the bunghole,” chimes in Tanya.  
“The what?”  
“The rift that’s appeared in the area. I’m guessing due to an overabundance of time activity,” says Missy, giving the Doctor a look.  
Ram sees an opportunity. “Hey, never mind that, now you’re here, April’s a Shadow Kin, and we’ve got a lot--”  
The Doctor cuts him off. “I’ll be back. Probably. But I need to solve this, ah, personal issue first. Missy, get in the TARDIS.”  
She does as she’s told. He’s about to slam the door, when Missy props it open. “What about my companion?”  
“YOUR companion?”  
“Say hello to Phoenix!”  
Phoenix waves. “Hi--”  
“Let’s not share too much right now, dear. Just come along.”  
Before the Doctor can argue, she’s followed them into the TARDIS. She makes no reaction at all about the size until Missy glares at her behind the Doctor’s back and makes a face, mouthing ‘dimensions!’  
Phoenix clears her throat. “Oh, oh... my goodness would you just look at this. Wow, look at this magic spaceship that I definitely didn’t know would be a different size on the inside. It’s absolutely mind-boggling.”  
Miraculously, the Doctor doesn’t notice the young woman’s bad acting. He’s too busy darting around the console, muttering to himself about paradoxes.  
“So where will you take us?” asks Missy.  
“I don’t have much choice but to take you back to Bristol with me. You can stay in the TARDIS for now, but your friend will have to find somewhere else.  
“Why? There’s plenty of room,” Missy says, flinging her arms out.  
“Because I don’t need random people around!” He yells.  
“Oh, as opposed to all the random people YOU bring on board!” Missy yells back at him.  
Phoenix covers her ears, but Missy grabs her by the arm and drags her up to the console. She starts rummaging through things at the base of the console, and the Doctor dives after her.  
“What are you doing? Stop that!”  
“Just trying to find a medical scanner, you idiot.”  
“What do you need a medical scanner for?”  
“Just hand it over!”  
He does. It was on the other side of the console.  
“Now, maybe if I show you, you’ll listen. Phoenix, stand still.”  
“What are you doing?” Phoenix says.  
“Proving a point.” Missy holds up the medical scanner, which looks like a small tablet. She holds in front of the woman’s chest, then turns it on.  
And there they are, clear as they can be. Both hearts, beating a little faster than they should, because Phoenix is scared.  
The Doctor takes a step back. “No…”  
“You could be a bit more welcoming to your daughter,” Missy says.


	6. Chapter 6

The Doctor is shocked. Not much will truly shock him anymore, but this is impossible. There are two female Time Lords standing in front of him, one the identical copy of the Time Lord he has locked in a vault in Bristol. The other is apparently his daughter.  
“Your name is Phoenix?” he asks, softly.  
“Yes. Hi, Dad.” She reaches for his hands, but sees him start to cry. She pulls away. “Or do you not like being called that? She said she doesn’t want to be called Mom, so I could just call you Doctor? Or… what was it, Theta Sigma?”  
The Doctor’s bewildered gaze now falls on Missy. “We have a daughter… together?”  
Missy covers her face with her hand. “You stupid girl. You shouldn’t have told him I was your mother. Oh, the paradoxes.”  
“I’m sorry! I didn’t think…”  
“No one ever thinks, do they,” Missy says sourly, going to sit in a chair.  
“Well, I’m sure I would have figured it out… Missy! Why are you looking at me like that?”  
The shock of the moment has passed, and it’s sunk in for Missy that this Doctor will be the one who gets stranded on Mars, who gets killed by Cybermen. He doesn’t know what’s coming, but if they aren’t careful he will know too much.  
“I’m pleased to say that your little niceness conversion therapy has gone very well.”  
“Missy…”  
“You can’t tell me anything. The me that’s in your vault, I mean.”  
“Of course not.”  
“I suppose you’re pleased with what you now know you have to do with her.”  
“Do you have to talk about that in front of me?” asks Phoenix.  
“No. No, certainly not, dear,” Missy says, her face brightening. “How about we go back home to Bristol, take a rest, and talk some more in the morning.”

The Doctor finds Phoenix a room on the TARDIS, and she goes to bed. He goes back to the console room and sits with Missy.  
“Can I get you any tea or anything?”  
“How about Mexican food?”  
“You want to go out?”  
“If that’s alright.”  
He looks around the TARDIS. “We really shouldn’t, but considering the situation…”  
“She won’t steal the TARDIS. She’ll be asleep for a while, and you’ve still got the bio lock on, right?”  
“Yeah. Yeah, it’ll be fine. I know a place.”  
“I know you do. But can I get changed, first?”  
The Doctor looks her over and sees the ripped, dirty clothes. “Sure, but I don’t know if I have anything that’s quite your style.”  
Missy laughs. “So that’s where my blue dress went.”  
“What?”  
“Go and get my blue dress out of the vault.”  
“What do I tell her?”  
“You said Bill needed it for a fancy dress party.”

And so the Doctor goes and lies, and Missy changes clothes, and they go out to the Mexican food place.  
“It’s really more Tex-Mex. Brit-Tex-Mex. Crunchy tacos, nachos, giant burritos,” she says.  
“It’s here, and I’m tired, and since when do you even care about human food?”  
“You forget, I’m from the future. I’m reformed! Pass the salsa.”  
They order margaritas on the rocks, and enchiladas, and then another round of margaritas on the rocks, and then frozen margaritas with entire bottles of beer stuck in the top. They stumble home to the Doctor’s rooms, just a little bit drunk. He sonics the door open (wherer’sa keys, Missssey?) and finds Nardole standing in the hallway.  
Nardole screams.  
“Shhhh… Shh Nardole don’t wake Missy up! She will HEAR you! Good hearing.”  
“She’s right there! How much have you had to drink!? What is she doing OUT OF THE VAULT!?”  
“Nooooooo she’s not, this is not the same Missy. It is a different Missy. Don’t be frightened.”  
Nardole looks terrified.  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I’m officially declaring it none of my business.”  
“Good eggman. Bye bye. Night Night,” Missy laughs.  
“Bye Nardole, don’t tell Bill. Shhhh. Secret.”  
Nardole walks away to his room, constantly looking back at the Time Lords as if ready to defend the Doctor from an attack.  
He leads her back to his own small bedroom. Missy giggles again.  
“Help me out of this, wouldya? Don’t be shy.” He helps her take off the dress and corset, and she grabs a t-shirt and some boxers from a shelf in the closet. “Now I’m wearing your clothessss,” she says, dancing around a little bit.  
“Yes, you are!” He says, stripping down to his own boxers. “We match!”  
Missy puts her arms around his shoulders and gives him a kiss. ‘Y’aughta be doing this with the other one. Downstairs.”  
“I like this one. This one right here.”  
“Fancy a threesome?”  
“Paradoxes.”  
“Ahhh. Shutup and kiss me. Lie down.”  
“Okay.”  
They flop down on his small bed and laugh at each other. “You’re drunk,” says Missy.  
“No, you are!”  
“Little bit. I deserve it after all that.”  
“After what?”  
She shakes a finger at him. “No sir. Can’t tell you about the Cybermen. Can’t tell because of Time.”  
Suddenly the Doctor appears more sober. “Cybermen?”  
“Ah, shit.”  
“No, don’t tell me.”  
Missy looks more serious now, too. “I promise I won’t. I can’t say any more. Except that these next few months are going to be hard for you. You’re strong enough to get through it. You’re the strongest person I know. And whatever happens, whatever choices I appear to make, I want you to know something important.”  
“Missy, don’t--”  
“No, just shut up, Thete. I love you.”  
“Missy!”  
“That wasn’t the important part, just listen. I have always loved you more than I love myself, and I want you to know that I will always choose your side. I will always stand with the Doctor. I want you to know that now.”  
“I don’t know what to say.”  
“It would be better if you didn’t say anything.”  
“I understand. I… I love you too, Koschei. Even if that wasn’t the important part.”  
“Thank you.” She gives him a quick kiss. Missy snuggles in closer to the Doctor’s chest, and he holds her. They are quiet then, and the sounds of their heartbeats lull them to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

They’re awakened early in the morning by a knock at the door. It’s Nardole, bringing coffee. The Doctor has to get up and get ready for one of his lectures.  
When Nardole sees Missy, he looks like his eyes are about to bug out of his head. She sticks out her tongue, takes a gulp of the Doctor’s coffee, (for once, after all that alcohol, it feels right) and follows Nardole out to the Doctor’s office. She’s still wearing his things, but doesn’t care.  
“Thete, can you unlock your TARDIS for me?”  
He comes out, fully dressed again, and opens the door for her. She thanks him with another kiss. “Have a good lecture.”  
Nardole has gone completely pale.  
Phoenix steps out of the TARDIS. “There you are! Good morning.”  
“Good morning, dear. Breakfast?” Missy says cheerfully.  
Nardole has to hold on to the desk to avoid passing out on the floor. “Who is that,” he says, pointing at Phoenix.  
“Ah! Nardole! This is my daughter, Phoenix. She’ll be staying with us for a little bit.”  
“Breakfast would be great. Thanks, Dad.”  
Nardole is shaking. “I’ll just… go and fix some eggs and toast.”  
“Thank you, Nardole! I must be off. Important subject today.” The Doctor whistles to himself as he leaves for the class.  
Nardole brings the women breakfast, and he’s surprised again when Missy tells him to sit down and join them.  
“You’re very different from the other one.”  
“I am. Motherhood must agree with me.”  
Nardole shakes his head. “I’m not sure I want to know.”  
“You can’t, really,” adds Phoenix. “It would mess up the timelines. But we can all be friends, in the meantime.”  
“What about her in the vault?”  
“You can’t tell her a single thing. Act like I’m not even here,” says Missy.  
“Alright, but I don’t like it,” says Nardole, cautiously.  
Later, when the Doctor returns, he asks to spend time with Phoenix.  
“It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a daughter. We should go for a walk around the campus, try to bond a little bit.”  
“I’d like that,” Phoenix says with a smile.  
Missy smiles too, then goes back to reading her book.  
The days pass. Missy stays in the Doctor’s room, and Phoenix stays in her room on the TARDIS. Missy encourages the Doctor to go and stay with the other Missy, but she dreads the nights she’s alone in the bed. It’s selfish but she knows her days with him are numbered. She usually has her own fun when he returns the next morning, though. Missy wonders what the Doctor thinks about this whole arrangement. Two identical girlfriends locked up in his house.  
Missy also enjoys seeing that the Doctor has taken to teaching Phoenix about the TARDIS, about Earth history, and really a little bit of everything. It’s sweet to see him as a teacher, how his humans must see him. She knows that he wishes he could introduce Bill to Phoenix, but that it would make things even more complicated.  
One day, he tells the two of them that he’s taking Bill and Nardole for a trip to NASA. Missy knows they will end up on Mars, and is therefore unsurprised when Nardole knocks on her door just a few hours later.  
“I suppose you’ll be wanting me to take you back to Mars?” she says.  
“Yes!” exclaims Nardole, “How did you know?”  
“Because you’ve got the wrong Missy, Eggman. Get the one in the vault.”  
“But that’s dangerous. She’s not supposed to be out!”  
“Well, all I know is that you did it before, so you have to do it this time. And remember, you can’t let her know we exist.”  
Phoenix and Missy crack the door open when the other Missy walks past. She seems to carry herself differently. Phoenix looks at both versions of her mother in wonder.  
The TARDIS dematerializes then materializes again. The doors open, and out step Bill, Nardole, the Doctor, and the younger Missy. Nardole goes to lock her in the vault again, Bill slings herself across a chair, and the Doctor steps into his room.  
“That’s the turning point, isn’t it.”  
“You know I can’t tell you,” Missy replies.  
“What happened, dad?” Phoenix asks.  
“We were trapped on Mars, and your mother was a hero. Maybe for the first time in her life.”  
“Are you proud of her?” Phoenix asks.  
“I am.” He holds Missy’s hands.  
“Then you have to go to her. Let her cry with you,” Missy tells him.  
“I want to be with you.”  
Missy’s voice breaks. “There will be plenty of time with me as long as you go to her now.”  
The Doctor nods. He understands. He leaves.  
“Why did you tell him that? You know there won’t be plenty of time,” says Phoenix.  
“Because I love him. I have to make these little sacrifices so time won’t fall apart. It’s my duty.”  
“From what I’ve heard, you’ve never cared much about duty before.”  
“Things change. People change, even after centuries. Now I have you.” Missy lets her daughter give her a hug.  
“What are we going to do when he’s gone?”  
“I don’t know, Phoenix. I suppose we’ll find a way to move on.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contains some smut but not especially dirty smut.

More time passes. The little family has gotten used to hiding from Bill and the other Missy. Nardole is still amazed, but he accepts it. Phoenix has started attending various lectures around the campus, and everyone agrees it’s good for her to get out and pretend to be a student.  
One day, Missy tells the Doctor that he should let the other Missy out of the vault and into the TARDIS. “Let her do maintenance. It will be fun for her, and you owe her after Mars.”  
“Phoenix is doing fine with maintenance on her own. You’re only telling me this because it already happened for you.”  
“I am, but that doesn’t make it any more right. Go to her tonight, and tell her in the morning.”  
“Missy, I want to sleep next to you.”  
“You haven’t done this much sleeping in over a thousand years.”  
“I like the excuse to be next to you”  
“You’re such a lovesick puppy. It’s adorable and disgusting. Is this what you were like with River?”  
The Doctor doesn’t answer, and she knows she’s crossed a line.  
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I won’t talk about River.”  
He still has a portrait of her on his desk. Missy knows not to be jealous of anyone. Things are what they are. That doesn’t stop her from crying when she’s alone in the Doctor’s bed that night, though.  
Late the next morning, Phoenix has already left for a lecture and Nardole has gone off to some shop. The Doctor comes back from the vault in a good mood. He gives Missy a kiss, but she knows not to take it any further.  
“You know, don’t you,” he says.  
“I can’t tell you. But even if I wasn’t me, I’d know. You’ve got that smug look on your face.”  
“What smug look?”  
“The I-just-had-morning-sex smug look. Don’t worry, I’m not jealous.” She smiles at him.  
“I would have never thought, in all my years, that I’d be living with two versions of the Master and enjoying it.” He squeezes her hand, then starts to walk off towards the desk. He sees the picture of Susan and stops. He holds his hand up to his mouth.  
“If you’re wondering where your daughter came from, the answer is yes.”  
“That was it?”  
“I’m pretty certain. Time works in mysterious ways.”  
He walks back to her. “You must be from pretty far in the future, then, if she’s already grown.”  
“You know I can’t tell you,” she says, with just a touch of anger.  
“This is killing me.”  
“Is it?”  
“No.”  
“Let’s change the subject. Have you decided where you’re taking your friends next?” Missy turns away from him and wipes the tears from her face.  
“Bill would like to see Scotland, in the past. That might be good.”  
“Yes, I think so. The other me could hang around the TARDIS and watch.”  
And so Phoenix and Missy are left alone again, for a couple of days this time. They sneak down to the vault to Missy can show her daughter where she used to live, and they watch silly movies, but Missy is on edge. They have to run and hide when they hear the TARDIS materialising. Missy feels her hearts sinking when she realises how little time there is left.  
They’re able to get the Doctor away for a family dinner out at a restaurant, almost like a normal family.  
“And how did the other me do in Scotland?”  
“She was perfect, as you know,” replies the doctor, buttering a roll.  
“Will you take me out on an adventure, Dad,” Phoenix asks.  
“Maybe. Where would you like to go?”  
Phoenix looks at Missy, who shrugs. She thinks for a moment. “I’d like to see another planet.”  
“How about something fun and simple? We could do a theme park planet? Kursaal?” the Doctor suggests.  
“You’d have to avoid the Jax,” cautions Missy.  
“Been there, done that, thank you. I know when to materialise. Hey… you should come, too! A family holiday.”  
“Are you sure that’s wise?” she asks.  
“Come on, Mom!” Phoenix says, and Missy grimaces. She’s been letting Phoenix call her that, despite her earlier protests, but it still sounds strange.  
“Let us do something fun together,” says the Doctor. “And then I promise I’ll do something with the other Missy. Take her on a test run somewhere.”  
Missy knows this is her only chance. The only place where she can squeeze the timeline to spend a tiny bit more time with her Doctor. She agrees to a quick trip, and they decide to set off the next morning.  
Phoenix says she’ll have the TARDIS ready for them when they wake up. Missy and the Doctor go to his room (they’re thinking of it as their room now, really) and change clothes. She lets him take her hair down for her, and he sits behind her on the bed playing with it for a while.  
“You should wear your hair down more often.”  
“It frizzes up and looks a mess.”  
“I like it anyway.” He’s braiding little pieces together and unbraiding them over again.  
“Thanks, I guess. I’m tired, will you just hold me for a little while?”  
They lie down facing each other and he wraps his arms around her. She presses her face into his chest and tries not to cry.  
“You’re sad.”  
“Not sad, no. Melancholic.”  
“Why?”  
She doesn’t answer.  
“Because you know something that you can’t tell me. I know.”  
“How about I let you just have all our conversations by yourself from now on. It’ll save me a lot of energy,” Missy yawns.  
He kisses her on the top of her head. “Whatever it is, I love you.”  
“Love you too, Thete. Let’s have fun tomorrow.”  
They do have fun. Kursaal is wonderful, and for once there’s no drama. Thankfully, they avoid the Jax, as nobody feels like turning into a werewolf today.  
Phoenix is happier than she’s ever been in her short life. She seems to run from place to place like a small child, and Missy remembers how young she really is despite looking fully grown. They get ice cream and go on rides. At the parade, they wave to the characters in costumes and laugh. The Doctor snaps pictures with an old Polaroid camera.  
At the end of the day, they head back to the TARDIS, and Phoenix goes off to bed.  
“Back to Bristol, then,” Missy says.  
“I was thinking,” says the Doctor.  
“Oh no.”  
“It does travel in time.”  
“I’m aware.”  
“We could go--”  
“Thete, don’t start.” Missy fans the stack of Polaroids out. These will be our only family photos, she thinks.  
“Why can’t we?”  
“Because we have to be responsible.”  
“You’ve changed so much, Missy.”  
“Don’t you love it?”  
“Most of the time.” He smiles. “We’ve landed on the Moon, if you’d like to go and look at the Earth with me for a bit.”  
They bring pillows and blankets and sit right on the edge of the TARDIS’s forcefield to stare at their adopted planet. It’s very blue and green. Missy runs her fingers through the Moon dirt.  
“Romantic Doctor. Give a girl anything, even the Moon.”  
“Nothing but the best for my coy Mistress.”  
“Had we but world enough and time,” she whispers. He holds her hand and squeezes. She squeezes back and smiles at him through the tears.  
“Tomorrow I’m taking Bill and Nardole out to test Missy. The other Missy, I mean. We’re going to look for distress signals.”  
“I know,” she says, crying more.  
“Hey. I thought you wanted me to do more with her.”  
“It’s not that.”  
“I know. You can’t tell me.”  
Missy actually sobs. The Doctor puts his arms around her and kisses her head.  
“So which one of us regenerates tomorrow? Wait… it must be me. You’re still you.”  
Missy looks up at him. “How long have you known?”  
“Not long. Since the night before Scotland.”  
“You weren’t going to say anything?”  
“I didn’t think you’d take it this hard. Hey, it’s okay. I’ll still be me, just different.”  
She just sobs into his shoulder.  
He tries to make a joke. “Don’t tell me I’ll be a woman next! That’ll take some getting used to, yeah.”  
“Theta, really, just don’t talk.”  
“Alright.” He just holds her for a few minutes, then asks if she’d like some tea. She nods, so he goes and gets the things.  
The tea really does make her feel better. She plays with the dirt some more, thinking. She could change the timelines. Time can be rewritten. She could be selfish.  
But she can’t. She has to do the right thing, for once in her lives. That’s what this has all been about. She has to make this one choice, this one sacrifice hurting herself, after all the times she’s hurt others.  
“You know I love you, right?” she says.  
“I do.” He kisses her. “I do love you. I’ve always loved you, Koschei.”  
Missy looks him in the eyes. “I’ve done a lot of terrible things. I don’t deserve to be loved.”  
“Maybe not, but that doesn’t change the fact that I do.”  
They kiss again, and Missy knows this is it. She sets the teacup down and leans into the kiss. The Doctor holds her face, as she unbuttons his shirt. He takes off her jacket and her blouse, and leans her down to the pillows. Pants and skirts and things are thrown off with a kind of odd frantic slowness. One last time for these bodies. They’d enjoy it.  
The Doctor pulls a blanket up over them, shielding their naked bodies from the cold air. Missy smiles and he runs his hands through her hair, letting it down from its tight bun.  
“You’re beautiful,” he says. “How are you so beautiful?”  
She touches him and kisses him everywhere. She wants to remember every last detail of him. “Wait!” she says. “I’m getting the camera!”  
So Missy, very naked, runs into the console room and grabs the Polaroid and a fresh pack of film. They take selfies with the Earth, cute kissing photos, and rather more lewd shots of each other’s bodies. It’s all very silly and very sexy at the same time.  
The Doctor sets the camera aside and runs his hands over her body. He kisses each breast and sucks on her neck. Missy knows he’ll leave a mark and she doesn’t care. He pushes one hand between her legs and rubs until she’s moaning quietly in his ear. Her body shakes and he kisses her again on the lips.   
“Beautiful.”  
Missy takes his cock and looks in his eyes for permission. He nods, just slightly, and she pushes him into her. She leans against the pillows and enjoys feeling him inside her one last time. She’s crying when she comes again, and he’s kissing away the tears, and he’s coming then, too, and then he’s crying. They hold each other for a long time and fall asleep tangled up, face to face.  
Morning arrives on the Moon. They wake with a start, then sheepishly grab the pillows and blankets and clothes and tea things and go back inside. They almost get everything. Decades from now, an astronaut will find a single teacup and a Polaroid selfie of two naked Time Lords.  
They’ve gotten dressed and materialized back in Bristol before Phoenix wanders into the console room, thankfully. The Doctor hugs his daughter and tells her he’ll be back soon. Missy and Phoenix go and hide in the bedroom as Nardole and Bill and the other Missy join the Doctor. And then they’re gone.  
Phoenix lets Missy cry on her shoulder for a long time.


	9. Chapter 9

Missy doesn’t leave the room for days. Phoenix brings her tea and soup and lemonade and cake and all kinds of food, but she doesn’t eat or drink anything.  
One very rainy day, she wakes to find her daughter standing over her, looking very serious.  
“They’re not coming back, are they?” says Phoenix.  
“No.”  
“This is where the timelines meet up, isn’t it.”  
“Yes.”  
“Get out of bed.”  
“I can’t.”  
“Don’t be dramatic. Get out of bed.” There’s something cold and different in her voice. Missy obeys her.  
“Get dressed and come have some tea.” It’s not a request. Missy pulls on a dress and steps out into the office’s sitting area. They sit by the window, listening to the thunder and rain on the campus. Phoenix hands her a cup. Missy raises it to her lips, but doesn’t take a sip yet.  
Her daughter smiles, but it’s not quite right.  
Something is wrong. Missy sets the teacup down again, and Phoenix frowns.  
“I’ve been terribly selfish, haven’t I,” says Missy.  
“It’s alright. Just drink your tea.”  
“Are you upset about your father leaving? It’s not his fault.”  
“No, I’m not upset. It had to be this way.”  
“That’s very mature of you, dear.”  
“Well, one of us has to be,” Phoenix says, a little harsher than she’d intended.  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Just drink your tea.”  
Missy looks down at the cup. It smells wonderful, and she could really use a drink… but something in the back of her mind says there’s something wrong. The tea is ever so slightly a different shade. There’s a roll of thunder outside. Missy looks up at her daughter...  
And sees the twin-bladed dagger in her hand.  
“Phoenix! What are you doing?”  
“I’m doing what has to be done, Mistress.”  
“What is wrong with you? Put that down,” she screams, knocking the tea tray from the table.  
“For months I’ve waited. I’ve played the perfect daughter, waiting for my chance.”  
“What do you mean?”  
Phoenix laughs, and Missy remembers how harsh the woman had seemed when she’d first woken up on floor 507. How different she’d seemed since then.  
“It doesn’t work like that, you told me. I didn’t give you any explanation, and you didn’t care. You just accepted me. You’ve gone so soft.”  
Missy is shaking. Phoenix has the dagger raised, and Missy backed almost completely into the corner. The rain pours harder outside.  
“I don’t understand…”  
“The Doctor is not my father, you idiotic slut.”  
“Who are you?”  
“I am the Master, risen like a Phoenix from the ashes of a paradox. You should never have survived.”  
“What?”  
“What did you do with yourself back there on floor 507? You created me with your disgusting actions. I am your daughter, and yours alone. Yes, I took the laser blast for you, and yes I ripped myself from your womb as I regenerated for the first time in my new cycle. You should not have survived, but you did. I used you to get off the ship. I could have killed you so many times, but it was best to wait until your little boyfriend and his humans were gone.”  
Missy can’t speak. She is cornered now. The dagger glints in a flash of lightning out of the office window.  
“I am a paradox. I am upgraded. There should not be more than one Master in this timeline. You are an abomination, and you will be destroyed.” Phoenix raises the dagger higher.  
As she sees the blades swing, Missy knows this will be the end. The twin blades will pierce her hearts, and she will not regenerate. Nothing will save her this time. Time seems to slow down.  
Suddenly, a burst of lightning cracks through the air, right in front of her face. There is a roar of thunder and shattered glass. The window has broken, and torrential rain streams in. Missy can’t see. There’s glass everywhere. Where is Phoenix? Missy looks down. The lightning struck the blades of the dagger. Phoenix is on the ground, burned, with smoke rising. She is not moving. She is dead.  
Missy runs instinctively to the middle of the room. She doesn’t know where to go or what to do. There’s rainwater all across the floor, and it’s hitting her daughter’s body and making steam. Missy cries and crumples in a heap on the floor. The rain is soaking through her dress. She sees movement from the corner and looks up. Something is coming out of the puddles. Something shaped like two women, holding hands.  
“I am the Pilot,” says one of them. “And you are free.”  
The other one looks like… no, it can’t be.  
“Bill?” says Missy.  
“Kinda, yeah.”  
“What happened to you? You were a Cyberman.”  
“It’s a long story,” she says.  
“You are free,” repeats the Pilot. “You can go anywhere you like. You can even become like us and travel the universe.”  
Missy is shaking again. She is sobbing with her whole body.  
“I think she’s had enough of traveling the universe,” says Bill. “Am I right?”  
Missy nods.  
“Then we’d better be going,” says the Pilot. Missy sees them kiss briefly and then they have vanished.  
Missy is alone.

Epilogue

Missy meets with the president of the university. She tells them that the Doctor is gone, and will not be teaching anymore.  
To her surprise, the president nods as if he is expecting this news.  
“The moment has been prepared for. The Doctor told us that one day he would disappear, and another person calling themselves the Doctor with equal skills and intelligence would take his place.”  
“Oh I’m… I’m not…”  
“You are the next Doctor, aren’t you.”  
Missy catches herself, and smiles. “Yes, I am. I’m the Doctor.”  
Missy and the cleaning staff are very busy repairing and renovating the Doctor’s rooms and offices. It’s summer now, and soon the new students will arrive for the fall. Missy puts the finishing touches on her syllabus. She will be lecturing on Physics.  
Everything is ready for the fall. She’s even bought herself a new wardrobe. Missy feels a bit silly, but she knows the students will take her more seriously if she looks a tad more modern.  
Although she thinks that some of them might have trouble taking her seriously, in this state. Missy looks in the mirror at the way her body has changed. She’s never gotten a chance to see this process first-hand before. Her first daughter was made on a loom. Her second sprang early from her womb out of chaos and paradox. Her third will be called Luna.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to anyone who read all the way to the end! Please leave a comment & tell your friends if you enjoyed it.


End file.
